Crimes of Passion
by Sir Perfluous
Summary: There's always some risk involved when going on first dates, especially when you factor in some kidnappings and a Gangler monster too. When Keiichiro and Tsukasa are put on the case to get to the bottom of the mysterious crimes, they'll have to rely on their bond as friends, partners, and possibly something more.
1. Internal Affairs

**Disclaimer : I do not own Lupinranger vs Patranger or Super Sentai either. **

* * *

The seconds on the clock continued to tick down while Sakuya Hikawa sat restlessly tapping a pen on his desk. As he continued to watch the clock in the main office of GSPO headquarters, his teammate Tsukasa Myoujin glanced up slowly from her own paperwork. She raised an eyebrow at him before they both heard the voice of the Patrangers' leader Keiichiro Asaka. Without looking up from his stack of case files, Keiichiro interjected, "Knock that off Sakuya. It's annoying."

The Green Patranger put down his pen and leaned back in his chair with a sigh, "I'm sorry Senpai but I can't take it. It's Friday afternoon and I have to get out of here!"

Tsukasa shook her head and the Pink Patranger closed the file she was working on, "Sakuya, it couldn't have been that bad of a day. It's been really quiet lately and..."

"And that's just it Senpai," the younger Patranger cut in, "I was hoping I could get out of work at a reasonable hour and enjoy the rest of the day. It just so happens I had a hot date lined up."

Keiichiro continued to do his paperwork without even paying much mind, "Oh? Is it with that Umika girl again? The one from the café?"

"No. Actually, it's someone I met on an online dating site," Sakuya answered, "Her name is Kasumi Tanaka. She works a sales job with beauty products and if her picture is anything to go by, she certainly knows her stuff. I'll have to make sure I look just as good."

Sakuya glanced at his reflection in a computer screen and smoothed back some of his feathery brown hair. Keiichiro looked up from his desk and exchanged a curious look with Tsukasa before the two older Patrangers just shrugged.

As Sakuya cleaned up his workstation for the day, he called out to Tsukasa, "What about you Senpai? Do you have any big plans this weekend? Any dates lined up too?"

The Pink Patranger stopped and frowned slightly to herself in thought, "Hmm, come to think of it... no, not really."

"Ah... well too bad," Sakuya sighed, "I was hoping if we doubled up, you could be around to help me out a little bit so I don't screw up. This girl is really pretty so I don't want to mess up tonight either."

"And what exactly were you planning to do?" Tsukasa asked curiously.

"Well, I was going to meet Kasumi at Kasai Rinkai Park. There's a little bit of an autumn festival going on there and I thought we might take a little walk and grab some dinner nearby there."

Keiichiro stopped writing his report and glanced at his subordinate, "Kasai Rinkai? You do know a few people have gone missing there recently, right?"

"Nothing the regular police can't handle," Sakuya said waving it off, "Besides, Kasumi would have nothing to worry about either. She'll be out with one of Tokyo's finest cops."

At that, the clock struck four and the Green Patranger jumped up from his desk to bolt out the door, "All right! Finally! Wish me luck guys! Have a good weekend!"

As he rushed out the door, Tsukasa watched her younger teammate go while shaking her head to herself. After a long moment of silence, she looked at the last of the work on her desk and then to the mountain of papers on the workstation of her remaining teammate. She watched Keiichiro get back to his work for a moment, oblivious to everything else around him before she cleared her throat, "Keiichiro?"

It took him a moment before he set his pen down and looked up calmly, "Tsukasa? Is something wrong?"

"As a matter of fact there is," she said scratching her chin, "It's been a quiet week with no Ganglers or Lupinrangers running amok. It's a nice Friday evening and we're still stuck here doing paperwork."

"I see," he nodded seriously, "Well... if you want, you can leave early and I'll stay to finish the rest of your reports..."

"I actually had something else in mind. Something more fun..." she answered with a laugh.

Keiichiro raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Fun? What are you taking about?"

"I was thinking we should get out of here and go on a little modified assignment," Tsukasa explained, "After all, it's our duty to look out for Sakuya, isn't it? I figure we should go keep an eye on things and find out who this new mystery woman is. Just to make sure he'll be okay."

Keiichiro knew Tsukasa often viewed Sakuya like a little brother but he gave a mild frown, "Really? Because it sounds more like you're meddling and it's probably not a good idea to poke our noses into his date. Besides, we have better things to do anyway."

Tsukasa got up from her desk and went to go put on her suit jacket over her pink blouse, "Nonsense. This a perfect opportunity. Didn't you say yourself that several people have gone missing around Kasai Rinkai? If we go, we can keep an eye out for any kidnappers there too. Think of it like we're going on a stakeout."

The Red Patranger wrinkled his features and set his paperwork down. That was an interesting proposition and framed in that way, it was hard to argue against it if they could accomplish multiple objectives at once. Tsukasa stood waiting with an expectant look before he looked up to her and set aside his work. Keiichiro straightened his red necktie and fetched his own suit jacket before giving a nod, "All right then... what are we waiting for? Let's go."

* * *

Later that day, civilians made their way around the waterfront park of Kansai Rinkai enjoying the bright clear autumn afternoon. It was sunny and cool and many people were out enjoying an autumn festival that was taking place as a few areas of the park had attractions and booths lining some of the walkways along with some vendors selling art and food. From behind the cover of some bushes and a thicket of trees, the Gangler monster Vapora Fume surveyed the area. The female monster with a crystalline body resembling a rounded glass bottle eyed several potential targets, all of them looking to be handsome affluent young men.

She smiled to herself thinking that so far her plans for becoming the next successor to the Gangler organization was going along perfectly. So far she had been having a lot of luck luring in these wealthy and influential men and it was her hope that once she had enough, the government would be willing to pay a great ransom to her or even cede some power in exchange for their lives. Of course, it also helped that at this point, she had bent these victims' wills to her own from exposure to her special powers. She glanced a small crystal bottle with a stopper that she kept on her person containing her prisoners.

Right now, she had to get ready for her next "date" and by the looks of it, she was ready to score big. One of the GSPO's very own elite agents was ready to be suckered in without him even knowing it. Vapora put away her glass bottle and produced another one resembling a perfume bottle. She sprayed it several times letting the vapors revert her to her human disguise of Kasumi Tanaka, an attractive slender young woman with dark eyes and long hair. She smoothed out her purple dress and gave a proud smile to herself before walking from the treeline to head over to the park's large ferris wheel where she was to meet her next victim. As she neared the wheel, she heard someone call out to her, "Kasumi? Kasumi Tanaka?"

She turned and saw Sakuya approaching her wearing a green collared dress shirt over some dark slacks. In his hand he carried a small bundle of flowers and wore a friendly smile. Kasumi's lips curled into a predatory grin before she softened it into a pleasant smile. This was going to be all too easy.

* * *

Some time later, Keiichiro and Tsukasa made their way through the autumn festival in the city park while keeping their distance from Sakuya who already had his arm around the young woman named Kasumi. For now, they were both laughing and seemed pretty into their date as they continued to walk and converse intently with each other. After tailing Sakuya from work, the two older detectives used their experience and police training to follow their target while blending into the crowd. Of course, it also helped that they were not wearing their GSPO duty uniforms and had opted to stay in their civilian work clothes instead. As they wove through the crowd following Sakuya and Kasumi through the crowd, Tsukasa idly looked about at the concession stands and the entertainment vendors who had been set up here and there along the treelined walkways.

"Well, so far so good. It seems things are going well and Sakuya picked a great day to go out," Tsukasa mused aloud.

"If you say so..." Keiichiro shrugged with a non-committal expression while keeping a more vigilant watch over their surroundings, "I still think this is kind of a waste of time."

"You know Keiichiro, it's okay to relax and enjoy life every once in while," his comrade said giving him a gentle elbow in the side, "Besides, we're still doing good by looking out for our friend."

"Sakuya doesn't need our help to screw up his date tonight," Keiichiro sighed patiently as he looked around for any suspicious activity, "He can manage that all on his own."

Tsukasa glared at him incredulously, "Keiichiro... sometimes I don't think you have a single romantic bone in your body, you know that?"

"That's not true," he said matter of factly, "You know me better than that. I can be romantic if I wanted to."

"What I do know is that you're already married to your job," Tsukasa teased him gently with an amused snort, "If that even counts. And are you really still looking around for kidnappers right now?"

"Umm... no?"

At that moment, they saw Sakuya lead Kasumi toward the patio of a small outdoor café at the edge of the park. They continued to laugh and hold hands, completely unaware they were being followed. Once they were seated by an attendant, Keiichiro and Tsukasa passed by the patio to take a casual look around when they were stopped by one of the café servers. The young woman who was working as a hostess gave them a bright smile, "Good evening sir and miss. Would you like to be seated too? We're offering a special couples discount on our tea and crepes tonight."

The two detectives looked at each other in surprise before Keiichiro balked, "What? Oh no no no... you've got it all wrong. We're actually..."

"We're actually very interested," Tsukasa interrupted taking Keiichiro by the arm while giving the hostess a warm smile, "That would be great. Can we take that table over there?"

She pointed over to a corner table just close enough to eavesdrop on Sakuya and Kasumi while also preventing them from spotting the two as well. The hostess gave a welcoming gesture, "Of course miss. Right this way."

"Thank you," Tsukasa said as she pulled her sputtering teammate along and cozied up beside him as they walked, "Come on now dear."

The Red Patranger acquiesced and followed along until they were seated at the table near Sakuya who was still busy with his own date. Once they sat down, they were given two cups of tea and a pair of large crepes with strawberries and whip creme to share. After the server left, Keiichiro looked to his teammate pointedly, "What was all that about?"

"Just staying focused on the objective," Tsukasa replied innocently as she pointed over to Sakuya's table and then took a nibble of the crepes, "Thanks for playing along."

Keiichiro stared incredulously at her for a moment before shaking his head and taking a sip of tea, "You know... I was starting to think all this might not actually be about Sakuya tonight, but about you."

Tsukasa stopped and looked at him in surprise as she put down her fork, "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"About what Sakuya said earlier," Keiichiro prompted her calmly, "He was bragging about having plans and going on a date tonight. I thought you might be feeling a little insecure... or maybe even jealous."

"Me? Insecure? Jealous? Give me break Keiichiro. You're completely off base," she scoffed defensively.

"Am I?" he said as he leaned back in his chair and took another sip of tea, "Maybe you just felt like you've been missing out and when he brought it up, you started feeling more self conscious about it."

The Pink Patranger pouted toward him and gave a mild huff, "All right... let's assume for one minute you might actually be a tiny bit right. Would that be wrong? I mean, with the way we've all been working lately with our cases, fighting the Ganglers, and chasing the Lupinrangers it kinda feels like we haven't had much of a life outside of work recently, don't you think?"

Keiichiro shrugged quietly and let her continue, "Is it such a bad thing to want to get out a little it and have some fun instead of wasting all my young life doing paperwork and running down criminals?"

"No... I guess not," he said idly watching Sakuya's table, "Is that an admission then that I was right?"

"I might have to give you more credit," Tsukasa sighed in resignation, "It's not often, but it's annoying whenever you're right. I'm sorry if I was a crappy friend and dragged you out here for nothing tonight."

"Forget it Tsukasa. No big deal," Keiichiro said off-handedly as he took the single fork on the plate and used it to take a piece of the crepe for himself."In a way, you're also a little right. Maybe it's not so bad if we can just relax tonight and enjoy the evening too."

As he took a bite of the food and washed it down with some tea, Tsukasa stared at him incredulously and she felt her cheeks growing warm. She pointed to the fork.

"Keiichiro... what are you doing?"

He glanced at the fork looking genuinely perplexed. Since the day they had become friends and partners at the police academy, there were often times that Tsukasa was in complete awe of how Keiichiro could be such a brilliant policeman and a competent fighter in the field, yet be so oblivious and dense at the same time. Did he not just realize he had shared an 'indirect kiss' with her by eating with the same fork?

He blinked again in confusion, "What?"

While all that was going on nearby, Sakuya leaned over the table and took his date's hands as they finished their food, "Kasumi, I've been having a great time with you tonight! Do you want to keep things going and go somewhere else after this? Maybe go dancing or hit a karaoke bar?"

Kasumi feigned a thin smile, "That sounds great. I'd love to, but could you give me just a minute to freshen up a little?"

She pulled out a small perfume bottle from her jacket pocket and held the spritzer with one hand, "I want to try my newest scent. I hope you like it."

She turned the nozzle toward Sakuya and playfully sprayed him with a sinister giggle. As the small cloud of enchanted vapors filled the air, Sakuya stopped and wore a dumbstruck expression on his face while Tsukasa stopped her outburst at the next table over when she caught a faint whiff of the spray. She wrinkled her nose in mild disgust, "Ugh! What is that? It smells horrible."

Keiichiro stopped and took a quick sniff of the air surprised that he actually smelled a pleasant floral scent instead, "Really?"

Kasumi took the dumbstruck Sakuya by the hands and said, "Now my dear... you'll do exactly as I command."

Before anyone could speak further, a red playing card sliced though the air and stuck at the edge of the table. Everyone turned to see the three vigilante Lupinrangers already suited up as they dropped from a nearby rooftop of the café and confronted the table. Civilians started to scatter in fear and confusion as Lupin Red readied his blaster pistol, "Hold it right there Gangler. You're not going anywhere!"

Keiichiro and Tsukasa nearly fell out of their seats in shock before they jumped up and tensed for a coming battle. Kasumi gave a sneer as she dropped her human disguise with a sneer, "We'll just see about that. Sakuya, your first command is to destroy the Lupinrangers!"

Before anyone else could react, Sakuya brandished his VS changer with a stone cold look in his eyes and prepared for battle against anyone who stood in the way of his new mistress. He aimed it toward his new foes and pulled the trigger.


	2. Good Cop, Bad Cop

Keichiiro and Tsukasa dove under a nearby table and took cover as a fierce battle erupted between the Gangler Vapora and the Lupinrangers. The Lupinrangers tumbled aside and scattered as Sakuya fired several shots from his blaster weapon before transforming himself. Amid the chaos, the girl named Umika who wore the mantle of Lupin Yellow hesitated when she saw Sakuya attack. Even upon the arrival of the Lupinrangers, she had been surprised and uneasy at having seen Sakuya sitting at a table flirting with their target. Her attention was immediately drawn back as her Kairi, her comrade in red quickly pulled her to her feet, "Come on Umika! Now's not the time to space out!"

As the female Gangler continued to cackle and engage the Lupinrangers along with Sakuya, Tsukasa stared in disbelief, "What the heck is going on here?"

"We'll figure that out later," Keiichiro said as he rose and pulled her with him, "We've got to get in there!"

While the other combatants were distracted, the two Patrangers pulled their VS changers and swiftly powered up into their own battle suits. While the Lupinrangers fended off their two foes with their Lupin swords, they were surprised when Vapora was struck from the flank by a volley of blaster fire. The Red and Pink Patrangers made flying leaps forward and kicked the Gangler aside in unison. The force of their combined attack sent the monster sprawling back several yards before turning on their mind-controlled comrade in green.

Before Sakuya could train his weapon on the Lupinrangers, Keiichiro and Tsukasa rushed forward, doing their best to grapple their younger friend and restrain him without hurting him. As Keiichiro put Sakuya in a headlock, Tsukasa tried to wrestle the blaster pistol free as several wild shots went wide. She grunted, "Come on Sakuya! Snap out of it!"

"Let me go!" the Green Patranger snarled, "I have to prove my love for Kasumi!"

"Oh good grief!" Keiichiro huffed in exasperation as he continued to struggle against his comrade.

Kairi scratched his head in confusion, surprised that the Patrangers weren't all trying to go after the Lupinrangers. He called out, "We have to stop meeting like this. It seems we're on the same side again today."

"Yeah, I'm not too thrilled about it either," Keiichiro snarked back before Sakuya surprised him and tossed him over his shoulder with an arm throw. As the Red Patranger hit the pavement and rolled away, Sakuya used his moment of freedom to throw a hard elbow into the side of Tsukasa's head and knock her away.

Before he could do any more damage, Sakuya was thrown back from a few blaster shots by the red and blue Lupinrangers. As Umika hurried to help both Patrangers back up to their feet, Tooma, the thief in blue gave a shrug, "I guess one good turn deserves another."

By now, Vapora had recovered and gave an angry shriek while brandishing two perfume nozzles affixed to her arms, "You're not going to get my treasure Lupinrangers! But I'm willing to share something else with you today."

Jets of powerful enchanted perfume fired from the nozzles and engulfed the two male Lupinrangers in a cloud of vapor. Kairi and Tooma recoiled from natural reflex before realizing the cloud of gas wasn't harming them. Rather, it smelled sweet, floral, and pleasant to the senses. The two male Lupinrangers stood looking at each other in confusion before the magic perfume took effect and gripped their minds. Just like Sakuya, they were now much more open to the power of suggestion from the Gangler.

Nearby, Umika and Tsukasa clamped their hands over their mouths and noses recoiling in disgust.

"Eww! What a horrible stench!" Umika moaned in dismay while Keiichiro stayed back and caught a whiff from the periphery of the cloud. He still didn't know what the girls were talking about. He braced himself as Vapora pointed toward the remaining enemies, "All right boys, now I want you to take care of these last three."

Sakuya, Kairi, and Tooma all turned and faced their former comrades preparing to carry out their orders and attack. Fortunately, the unusual split between the two mixed teams and the reluctance to turn on their original allies caused the three enchanted rangers to hesitate. Keiichiro decided to seize the initiative and immediately fired a shot from his weapon which struck a glancing blow off the Gangler. Vapora Fume screeched in anger and waved her arm toward her three mind-slaves. "I think you three need some more obedience training! We'll finish this later!"

The monster fired several energy bolts from her arm nozzles throwing Keiichiro, Tsukasa, and Umika back before she released another perfume-like smokescreen. Once the miasma cleared, the Gangler and her three new servants had all disappeared and made their escape. Keiichiro growled and pounded his fist in frustration before Tsukasa tapped his shoulder and pointed to the rooftop of the outdoor cafe they had defended. In the confusion, it seemed Lupin Yellow had made her escape and was now vaulting over the top of the roof to make her getaway.

"Hey come back here!" Keiichiro shouted as he tried to charge after the lone thief. The Pink Patranger grabbed her friend's arm and restrained him, "Calm down Keiichiro. Let her go."

"Let her go?" he sputtered indignantly, "We already let that Gangler get away with Sakuya and now we're just going to let that thief skate too?"

Tsukasa powered down and shook her head, "She's not going to be a threat to us. Both of her partners were just captured by that monster. That means we have a slight advantage."

Keiichiro powered down and took a deep breath to calm himself, "Okay... you're right Tsukasa. We're not going to do Sakuya any good if we chase our tails. Let's head back to HQ and talk to Commander Hilltop. Maybe he and Jim Carter can help us figure something out."

Tsukasa gave her comrade an approving nod, "All right. That sounds like a plan to me. Lead on."

* * *

Later that night, the two GSPO officers made their way back to their HQ downtown looking a bit exhausted and worse for wear. As they entered the main office, they were surprised to see their superior Commander Hilltop sitting behind his desk doing some work. The older dark skinned man raised a curious eyebrow when he saw the two Patrangers and set his work down, "Detectives? Is everything okay? What are you doing here?"

"We've got a bit of a situation, sir..." Keiichiro grimaced, "Umm, what are you still doing here?"

"Working a double shift tonight," Hilltop answered as he sat back in his seat, " Crime doesn't sleep so neither can we right now. Where is Sakuya?"

"About that..." Tsukasa answered, "We were hoping we could talk to you about that. We kinda need your help."

Commander Hilltop sat and listened as the two Patrangers recounted the events of the evening and described the monster that had attacked. After hearing their report, Hilltop folded his hands thoughtfully, "Hmm, that doesn't sound like any Gangler I'm familiar with. I think we should have our assistant Jim Carter run that through our database for more information."

Tsukasa nodded, "Do you think this Gangler has anything to do with the disappearances of some of those people around Kasai Rinkai as well?"

"It's possible," Hilltop shrugged, "While we're at it, we should pull up information about the people who went missing and cross reference the data. Hopefully we can find a pattern and link it to this Gangler."

"If that's the case and she's going under a false alias, it might help us track her down and find out where she's keeping the other victims," Keiichiro added.

"Of course, there's another problem too," Tsukasa pointed out, "That weird perfume spray she was using... it seemed to mind control Sakuya and some of those other Lupinrangers. We need to find out what it is and how we're going to counter it."

"If we can recover any samples, we'll have Jim do a scan of that too," Keiichiro said seriously, "First thing's first though. We're going to have a long night so let's grab some coffee and get ready to work."

Tsukasa gave a mild groan of dismay while Commander Hilltop rose from his chair, "All right. I'll get Jim in here and make sure we clear out the detective dorm room if anyone is staying the night. Let's get to it."

* * *

Several hours later, the two Patrangers retired to one of the station's precinct dorm rooms reserved for detectives who were working late on more involved cases. It wasn't a large room, nor was it particularly well furnished. Some of the other detectives had often joked that the place looked more like a prison cell with a small dresser and nightstand in the corner along with two cot beds. Although they had made quite a bit of progress in their data gathering, it was getting late and the Patrangers were exhausted from the events of the day. They would start sorting out their findings and investigating locations in the morning but for now, it seemed that sleeping would have to come first.

As they walked in the dormitory room, Keiichiro checked his wristwatch and saw that it was now two in the morning while Tsukasa eyed the spartan living arrangements. She checked the blanket and poked at the firm mattress with a yawn, "Well... I guess it'll have to do. If I had known I'd be crashing here, I would have brought along a stuffed animal to brighten the place up."

"Well, we've still got that stuffed shark from that other Gangler case in the evidence locker," Keiichiro teased with a mild laugh.

His teammate stuck her tongue out before sitting down on her cot. There was a long pause before Keiichiro gestured for the doorway, "Oh... if it makes you feel any better, I can just take a blanket and find some lounge to sleep in tonight?"

Tsukasa lay down on her cot and pulled up a warm blanket over her while shaking her head, "No. I couldn't let you do that. I mean... this arrangement is a little weird but if you're okay with staying, then so am I."

Keiichiro nodded quietly and tucked himself into his own cot before turning out the light. After a short period of companionable silence, Keiichiro was starting to drift off to sleep when he heard his teammate's voice, "Keiichiro? Are you still awake?"

"Unfortunately," he sighed, "You're worried about something, aren't you?"

"Well... yes."

"Don't worry Tsukasa. I'm concerned about Sakuya too, but I promise we'll get him back," he said with resolution in his tone. At least he hoped he sounded convincing.

Tsukasa nodded and chewed her lip in the dark, "I know... but I was also thinking about something else. There was something I wanted to ask you about from back at the cafe in the park?"

"What about it?"

Tsukasa shifted slightly, "I was thinking about the whole thing with sharing that crepe and the fork again. I know it's a little silly and I might be overthinking things here... but I was wondering if that meant anything, you know?"

"Oh... I see," Keiichiro stared at the dark ceiling in confusion before it started coming together about what she was getting at... about how his actions had resembled some of the intimate things that romantic couples did. Now that he really thought about it, he could see how that could have been misconstrued. He thought it over carefully before answering, "You shouldn't have to worry Tsukasa. We've been friends and coworkers for a long time now. Honestly, what I did at the cafe I did without thinking... because I trust you and I'm comfortable around you."

Tsukasa smiled quietly to her herself, "Thanks... I'm glad you think so. If anything, I guess that's kinda the same reason I asked you to come along on a fake friend-date tonight too. I guess as first dates go, it turned out pretty awful, huh?"

"It wasn't all that bad," Keiichiro replied honestly, "For what it's worth, I still had a good time before that Gangler showed up."

"Yeah... me too," she said turning over to look toward him across the room, "At the very least, I guess we looked convincing, huh?"

Keiichiro looked back toward his friend before awkwardly settling in and pulling his covers over him, "Okay... we should turn in. We've got a lot to do tomorrow and we'll need our rest. Good night."

Tsukasa lay back on her pillow and closed her eyes with a relieved sigh, "Good night... and Keiichiro? Thanks again."

* * *

Early the next morning, Umika Hayami walked to the front door of the French restaurant Bistro Jurer and turned the sign from Open to Closed. She grimaced and began to wring her hands as she flopped down at an empty table. After spending a nearly sleepless night she was now left to manage the restaurant all by herself and there was no way it was going to be able to operate when its chef and other waitstaff had been abducted by a Gangler. Although she was deeply concerned about her two friends Kairi and Tooma, she was equally worried that closing the restaurant would no doubt cause a lot of regular customers to be upset.

As she sat in the empty restaurant, Umika rubbed her hands over her temples trying desperately to figure out a plan to save her fellow Lupinrangers. As she clawed at ideas, a risky gambit came to mind. It seemed Sakuya had also been brainwashed and the Patrangers were no doubt worried about trying to get him back too. They probably had a lot more resources at their disposal to investigate and track down the Gangler and Umika played with the idea of forming a temporary truce with the two remaining detectives. If only she knew exactly what she was up against or had something to offer the Patrangers.

At that moment, the door opened with a jingle and Umika turned with sigh, "I'm sorry. The restaurant is closed and..."

She paused in surprise when she saw the familiar face of the elderly butler Kogure, servant to the family of the legendary thief Arsene Lupin. The smartly dressed man gave a kind smile and ambled over, carrying his large book while adjusting his glasses. Umika rose from the table, "Mr. Kogure! Thank goodness you're here! Something terrible has happened!"

The butler idly glanced around the empty room and nodded sagely, "So it would seem. Where are your friends?"

"That's a long story," she winced as she sat down again with him, "Mr. Kogure... I'm going to need your help. You seem to know a lot about the Lupin Collection. If I'm going to have any chance to helping to rescue the other Lupinrangers, I'm going to need to know exactly who and what I'm up against."

Kogure regarded her calmly before giving a quiet nod, "If you can get me a cup of coffee and a croissant, I'll tell you anything you want to know."


	3. Partners in Crime

That morning, Keiichiro and Tsukasa sat in the main office of GPSO headquarters with Commander Hilltop and the unit's robotic assistant Jim Carter. Hilltop sat at his desk while the robot brought up holographic displays and the two detectives now in regular uniform gave a briefing on their findings from the other night.

"We've gone through the list of the city's missing persons reports and we found some interesting patterns," Tsukasa began while pointing to some holographic documents and lists, "There have been a number of men who have gone missing in and around the area of Kasai Rinkai park. It seems like a lot of these men had several things in common. Many of them were young up and coming professionals with lots of money and status. We have a few financial businessmen, a couple lawyers, and one or two with political aspirations."

"Okay… why would they all be going to that park and how does that tie in with Sakuya?" Hilltop asked.

Keiichiro stepped up and changed to display to report his findings, "It seems these men including Sakuya all shared another thing in common. They were all members of the same online dating site which caused them to be lured in by the same Gangler posing as that girl. As we thought, Kasumi Tanaka was a false alias."

"What about her current whereabouts?" Hilltop asked, "Where is she hiding and why is she abducting these men?"

Keiichiro grimaced, "Right now, Jim is triangulating her online activity to narrow down the area she might be hiding. As for the last part…"

"We're guessing she might have plans to ransom those victims back," Tsukasa chimed in, "Meaning if she's holding a number of them in the same large place, it might be easier for us to find them."

Hilltop nodded in satisfaction from the report, "All right… but there are a few more things to consider. We still have this issue of some of the Lupinrangers being captured by this monster. If they and Sakuya have been brainwashed to serve this Gangler, it might make things difficult at best."

The two detectives exchanged an uneasy look before Keiichiro spoke, "Sir, it might help us if Tsukasa and I investigate some of the surrounding areas where these men went missing. We're hoping we can find some kind of residual sample of the Gangler's perfume so that we can develop a counter for it."

"Or even better, a way to help us track her down," Tsukasa added hopefully.

Hilltop rose from his seat, "All right. You two have a go. Jim, I want you to keep working on monitoring for that Gangler online. She'll be more cautious after this recent battle so if there's any activity, we need you to narrow it down for us."

"Yes sir! I won't let you down," the robot answered giving a salute before it began to churn away at its database programs.

"Good luck you two," Hilltop called as the detectives headed out the door. They still had a lot of ground to cover and they were sure they were going to need it.

* * *

Throughout the morning, Keiichiro and Tsukasa combed some of the areas of Tokyo where victims were said to have disappeared. As they canvassed the area looking for clues and speaking to locals, they were getting discouraged as their leads hadn't resulted in a lot of progress. Of course, that was often the nature of routine police work, but the two Patrangers were feeling a little more urgency with their younger teammate in possible danger.

After pounding the pavement all morning and coming to another dead end, the two friends sat down to rest on a park bench to eat. Tsukasa waited and gave a discouraged sigh while Keiichiro picked up some cans of juice and a package of sweet onigiri rice cakes to share. "It's kind of amazing I've gone this long on a case and am forgetting to eat. I think you've been rubbing off on me and I'm turning into you."

Keiichiro ignored the gentle teasing and handed her a drink along with some food. As he sat down with her he gave a tired look, "It's too bad we haven't been able to come up with much. We can only hope that Jim has had some luck with his scans."

Before Tsukasa could bring the rice cake to her mouth, she gasped as a whipcord like object seemingly shot out of nowhere and snatched the treat from her hand. "Hey!"

The two Patrangers jumped to their feet and followed the retracting cable back to a nearby treeline. Up in one of the branches, they spotted the familiar clothes of the female Lupin Yellow standing watch. She hadn't transformed but was wearing her dark dress with a yellow mask and hat obscuring her identity. As she recovered the onigiri, she pocketed her grappling hook and gave a wave before jumping down into the cover of some brush.

"After her!" Keiichiro shouted as he began to charge forward in pursuit but Tsukasa caught his arm.

"Hey! Hold on a minute! This could be a setup. Maybe she laid a trap."

"Or maybe she wants to get our attention," the Red Patranger growled to himself, "Maybe she has a lead for us to follow."

"That's a big maybe," Tsukasa warned with a look of uncertainty.

Keiichiro shook his head, "Come on Tsukasa, we don't have anything else to lose. We might as well try. Do you trust me?"

She grimaced before nodding again, "Of course. Let's go!"

The two detectives charged into the brush and kept their hands at their sidearms in case of danger. After clearing the treeline and pushing past a few more shrubs, they finally came upon Lupin Yellow waiting for them in a small clearing. She maintained a neutral posture and kept her hands relaxed at her side. Keiichiro drew his weapon and approached cautiously leveling the pistol at the female thief in yellow, "Hold it right there. Hands up Lupin! Don't try anything funny."

Umika kept her eyes on Keiichiro mustering every ounce of courage to keep her cool in front of the zealous police officer. She raised her hands slowly and looked to Tsukasa hoping she could reason more with a fellow female, "If you think I'm trying to trap you, you're wrong. I just wanted to talk with you two."

"Oh we can talk all you want," Keiichiro said keeping his gun trained on Umika, "Just as soon as we slap some cuffs on you and bring you into a jail cell."

Tsukasa stared down the female thief before she reached out and gently took the end of her partner's gun, "Keiichiro... put it down."

"But Tsukasa..." he protested. She shook her head and softly urged him to lower his weapon again.

"Down boy. We're not going to get anywhere with her by making threats and using our weapons. She's putting some trust in us right now so let's do the same for her. Do you trust me?"

The Red Patranger frowned again before lowering his gun and putting it away. He exhaled and echoed Tsukasa's affirmation in their mutual trust, "Of course."

The Pink Patranger smiled in approval before turning to Umika, "Sorry about that. My partner here can be like a fierce attack dog sometimes."

Umika nodded and lowered her hands before tossing the rice cake she had pilfered back to Tsukasa, "Sorry about the sudden move just now. I needed to get your attention."

"Well you have it now," Tsukasa said with a level gaze, "And I'm sure you didn't come to join us for brunch just now."

Umika shook her head, "No... I came because I wanted to offer you some help against that Gangler... or rather, we can help each other."

"You're suggesting we work together?" Keiichiro said with a look a suspicious incredulity.

Umika nodded slowly, "We have a common enemy. That monster took our friends and we both want to get them back, right? You have the police resources to search and I have some information that can help all of us."

"We're listening," Tsukasa said but Umika shook her head and extended her hand.

"Not until we make it official. We agree to a temporary truce and we don't take any hostile actions against each other until we get our friends back."

Keiichiro frowned, "I don't like this. We have no way to really trust her."

"We don't have much choice... but we do outnumber her," Tsukasa reminded him before shaking Umika's hand, "All right. Let's talk."

Lupin Yellow nodded and turned around as she paced a few steps, "My sources have told me that the name of the Gangler is named Vapora Fume and it seems she's out to abduct and brainwash rich successful men. Most likely she wants to ransom them, or have them help her with committing crimes."

"We figured that much out already," Keiichiro pointed out but Umika raised a finger.

"Ah, but I have information about her source of power and how we can defeat her. My source tells me that the Gangler is using some item from the Lupin Collection called the L'eau de L'amor... the Water of Love. That scented perfume is strong enough to charm men and bend their will to the user."

The two detectives looked at each other before Tsukasa shrugged, "All right. That makes sense she's seducing these men. How does the perfume work and how do we stop it?"

Umika scratched her chin, "Well... that's where it gets a little tricky. We believe there might two ways to resist the perfume but we're not certain. Either the subject has exceptional willpower, or the subject already has a strong love in his heart and can't be turned."

Keiichiro crossed his arms, "This all sounds a little too much like a fairy tale for me. Isn't there something we can use to beat it with science or technology?"

Umika shrugged and reached into her coat pocket. She pulled out a sort of laminated card and handed it to them, "This card has some residue of the perfume. You might be able to use the traces of it to create an antidote."

Tsukasa took the card and pocketed it, "Thank you. You've been a big help, but we'll take it from here."

"Oh no you're not," Umika cut in, "I'm coming with you to stop that Gangler. We need each other right now, isn't that right?"

Tsukasa looked to her partner for his input and Keiichiro wore an unhappy look on his face but he slowly nodded his head, "I hate to admit it... but the Lupinranger has a point. We might need all the help we can get in taking that Gangler down."

"Great. So let's head back downtown and..."

"You're not going anywhere," Tsukasa said as she handed Keiichiro the perfume sample, "Keiichiro, maybe you should bring this back to the station for analysis in the crime lab. Maybe Jim can make sense of it."

"And what about you?"

The Pink Patranger raised a calming hand, "Lupin Yellow and I will keep searching this area for clues. And before you say anything... don't worry. I promise I'll be okay."

Keiichiro gave her a long look before giving a reluctant nod, "All right then. I'll be back as soon as I can. In the mean time, keep in regular radio contact."

"Yes sir," Tsukasa said giving a placating salute before he headed back off down the road. He hoped she knew what she was doing, but right now, all he could do was trust her like he always had.

* * *

Later that day, Keiichiro returned to the downtown police station and submitted the perfume sample for analysis in the lab. While he updated Hilltop on his findings, the robotic assistant Jim Carter continued to multi-task and scan the city for activity from the Gangler monster. Meanwhile, Tsukasa and Umika walked together down one of the park's more secluded paths looking for any more clues or leads to track the enemy. Despite being on opposing sides, both girls seemed to relax a little and use the time to probe each other a little more as to who they were as people. As they looked around Umika caught Tsukasa looking at her questioningly.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked with a hint of defensiveness.

Tsukasa just shrugged and shook her head, "Sorry... I just couldn't help but think that you kinda reminded me of someone I know. I guess I could kinda call her a friend."

"Oh? Who's that?" Lupin Yellow asked hesitantly.

"Just some waitress who works at a French cafe that my team frequents. Her name is Umika."

Lupin Yellow just glanced at her and did her best to keep a straight face and lie. Kairi and Tooma had always made it look so cool and easy, "Well I can tell you that's not my name."

"No... probably not," Tsukasa sighed, "She seemed a bit awkward and clumsy at times but she seems like a nice girl. My teammate Sakuya seems to have a huge crush on her. He likes to talk about her a lot."

"Rea... I mean... really? You don't say?" Lupin Yellow answered trying to make her voice indifferent, "I guess he couldn't have cared that much if he got seduced by that Gangler, huh?"

Tsukasa continued to scrutinize the thief before giving a serene smile, "Oh... I don't know. I think Sakuya tends to be a lot of talk most of the time. He might brag and try to go out with other girls, but I think he's in denial about his feelings for that waitress."

"Well... he sounds like an idiot," Umika huffed with a little more emotion than she expected, "Men can be really confusing and difficult, can't they?"

"We would know," Tsukasa sighed calmly, "But it's probably not as complicated as you think. You just have to be mindful of observing people and seeing what makes them tick."

Umika hesitated a little bit. Was Tsukasa being philosophical right now, or was she playing some screwy police mind game with her. "Like your partners?"

Tsukasa nodded and bent down to examine some footprints on the path, "Sure. Take Keiichiro for example. We've been friends for a long time, ever since we started at the Academy. A lot of other people might write him off as kind of stubborn, aggressive, and a little too intense at times, but even if he doesn't always show it outwardly, he can be very thoughtful and good hearted when you get to know him."

"Sounds like an awfully romantic notion of things when you put it that way" Umika teased gently, "Maybe he just listens to you more because he's showing you some special treatment."

"Nice try, but now you're just making things up," Tsukasa said suppressing a slight flush of her own cheeks, "We are always friends and professionals above all else."

The girls' banter was suddenly interrupted as Keiichiro's voice came in over the radio comm, "Tsukasa? Good news! We've tracked the internet signal from the Gangler's hideout and think we've zeroed in on it."

"That's great!" Tsukasa exclaimed happily, "But would about the perfume?"

"Jim's on it right now," Keiichiro answered with an unusually optimistic tone in his voice, "We might need a little more time, but he thinks we should be able to synthesize enough of an antidote to help Sakuya and the other Lupinrangers. I'm sending you new coordinates now and I'll meet you there soon. You're okay?"

"I'm fine," Tsukasa said in her earpiece while waving off the teasing smirk of Umika, "We're on our way."

After ending the call, the Pink Patranger cleared her throat and seemed to become a bit more serious and focused, "All right. Our friends think they found the Gangler's hideout. Let's get going to rescue the others and stop the spree of this serial kidnapper."


	4. Mon'Amie, Ma'Cheri

Later that day, Keiichiro met with Tsukasa and Umika in an outdoor shopping plaza only a few miles from Kasai Rinkai Park. As they met, they took cover behind the corner of a storefront that Keiichiro led them to. Once in place, Tsukasa gave an inquiring look, "Okay... so what's the plan? What are we hiding for?"

The Red Patranger pointed to a café across the street with a large outdoor patio, "We have to get the jump on Kasumi so we don't want her to spot us. If everything works out as planned, then she should be waiting there."

"For what?" Umika asked.

"For her next date... or what she thinks will be her next victim," Keiichiro replied with a sly wink.

"You're baiting the kidnapper?" Tsukasa asked in disbelief, "You set up a fake date yourself?"

Keiichiro scratched his chin, "Actually, that was Hilltop's plan. Once we found out that the Gangler uses this café to set up her appointments, we thought it might be fun if Jim used a fake profile to draw our target out."

Umika gave a low laugh to herself, "All right... not bad. There's only one other problem. What about our friends? She's surely going to keep them nearby as her bodyguards."

Keiichiro nodded and reached in a small briefcase he had carried over. Inside were two canisters which looked like large pepper spray shooters. "That's where you and Tsukasa come in. Once I confront Kasumi, she'll no doubt send the other three on me. It's up to you two to get the jump on them and spray them with this."

Tsukasa inspected the device while Keiichiro continued, "Since we didn't have a lot of time, the lab could only synthesize a little bit of the counter-toxins. For now, this is all we have so we have to make our shots count."

"Okay... but this still sounds really dangerous," Tsukasa protested to her partner, "What if you get hit by her spray?"

Keiichiro grimaced, "It's a chance we'll have to take. The important thing is to get the others free first."

Umika nodded, "I hate to admit it, but I think he's right. We're going to have to trust each other on this one."

Tsukasa wrinkled her features before giving a tense nod and taking her canister, "All right... let's do this."

While she and Umika transformed and split up to get into covering positions, Keiichiro took a deep breath and marched forward toward the café patio. As he neared, he could see many people sitting outside enjoying their drinks or socializing oblivious to the Gangler sitting among them. She was wearing her human disguise as Kasumi Tanaka and sat texting on her phone before she heard her name being called.

Other café patrons looked up in surprise as Keiichiro stood nearby holding out his badge and calling in a loud voice, "Kasumi Tanaka? On the authority of the Global Police, you're under arrest for multiple counts of aggravated battery and kidnapping."

The other café patrons got up and cleared out in fear at the sight of the approaching police officer who was now directly walking toward the girl on the patio. She gave an imperious sniff and kept texting, "I'm afraid you've got the wrong girl officer. I'm just here waiting on a date."

"For a Mr. Jim Carter?" Keiichiro smiled, "I'm afraid he stood you up and sent me instead. He's not a big fan of two bit Ganglers and neither am I... or should I call you Vapora Fume?"

Kasumi stopped and put her phone down with a scowl. She eyed the empty area and rose to her feet, "You just made a big mistake Patranger. I already took one of your friends and I'll add you to my collection too."

As she dropped her disguise, she gestured forward, "Get him my lovelies."

From the roof of the café, Sakuya, Kairi, and Tooma all leapt forward and jumped in the way to shield their mistress from the lone officer. As they charged forward, Vapora laughed, "You were foolish to come alone."

"Who said I was alone?" Keiichiro replied as he transformed himself and met the onslaught of the brainwashed rangers.

The Red Patranger raised his guard and fought defensively to block and deflect the attacks of his three assailants before he positioned them right near an intersection of some nearby buildings. Once they were in position, Tsukasa and Umika leapt off the buildings' low rooftops from two different sides and surprised the brainwashed rangers. Tsukasa tackled Sakuya and put him in a half nelson choke hold before spraying his face with the canister. Nearby, Umika had done the same thing to Tooma and the Blue Lupinranger stopped and toppled to the ground face-first.

Meanwhile, Keiichiro and Kairi had locked into a grapple and exchanged a few blows between each other before Vapora fired her blaster weapons to throw both Reds back to the ground. Keiichiro rolled clear in a stunned heap and found the Gangler going after him while Kairi lay nearby still recovering his senses. Umika hurried over to help her fellow Lupinranger and brought forward the last of her spray in the canister, "Hang on Kairi. Just stay still and I'll help you."

The moment she began to spray, Kairi sprung up on reflex and kicked the spray can away. He growled and squared off against his new opponent throwing punches and kicks seemingly unaware that he was trying to harm his own comrade. Umika fell back dodging and blocking Kairi's strikes with a defensive stance as she didn't want to hurt her own friend, "Don't do this! Please! I'm your friend remember?"

From where she stood, Tsukasa turned to see Keiichiro trying to recover to his feet with the Gangler looming over him. Not too far away, the brainwashed Lupin Red had reached out and grabbed Lupin Yellow by the throat and was trying to choke her. Tsukasa stood torn for a moment before she hurled her remaining canister toward her allied Lupin Ranger, "Hey Yellow! Heads up!"

Umika gasped and caught the spray can as it sailed by and sprayed Kairi right in the face to neutralize the perfume that was controlling him. Kairi staggered a moment and fell over in a stunned heap allowing Umika a chance to rise and give a grateful thumbs up to the Pink Patranger.

Meanwhile, Vapora loomed over Keiichiro and grabbed him by the neck to try and haul him up, "And now you're next!"

"Sorry lady, you're not my type," Keiichiro quipped as he twisted the wrist of the Gangler and then pulled a takedown reversal move that had been taught to all officers in the police academy. He dropped Vapora to the pavement facefirst and tried to twist her arm behind her back in a submission hold, "This is your last chance to come quietly Gangler."

The monster grunted before using her own brute strength to roll over and surprise her foe.

"You just made a big mistake Red! Now you're mine!" Vapora cackled as she sprayed Keiichiro point blank with her enchanted perfume nozzles. A cloud of gas enveloped the Patranger and he sputtered in momentary disarray while choking through the spray. Again, the smell was sweet, pleasant, and floral but Keiichiro did not feel any different or less oriented. He focused his mind as a precaution but found that his thinking hadn't become dulled or clouded either.

Both Tsukasa and Umika stopped and stared in horror wondering if their last male comrade had been turned against him. Vapora laughed as Keiichiro stared at her in confusion while she rose to her feet, "Now Red... I want you to be a darling and destroy your enemies for me."

"My pleasure," he replied as he turned his blaster pistol on the Gangler and opened fire with a barrage of laser shots at point blank range. Vapora howled in fury and pain as she recoiled from the attack and staggered backwards. One of the shots had hit her directly in the glass scent bottle that she kept her other victims in and it exploded into shards of glass. A score of young men in suits toppled to the ground having now been freed from their extradimensional prison.

Before Keiichiro could take any further action, both Tsukasa and Umika leapt forward and sent the female Gangler sailing back again with a dual flying kick to the face. The two girls regrouped around him and pulled their blaster pistols in ready positions while their enemy slowly staggered back to her feet. The Pink Patranger took a breath, "Goodstriker's not here right now and our other teammates are still down."

"Then we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way," Umika replied as she leveled her gun,

"This Gangler's made of glass so let's find her breaking point."

"Full power!" Keiichiro agreed as he and the two girls let loose a withering barrage of laser fire at their already weakened target. One by one, the shots hit the Gangler and began to chip away more and more glass from her body before she gave one more anguished howl and tumbled to the ground, only to explode in a great cloud of smoke and fire.

As the blast subsided, a dented scorched safe clattered to the ground with an audible thud. With the Gangler having been destroyed, all her victims fainted momentarily as the spell over them had been broken. Amid the smoke and dying flames along the ground, Keiichiro and Tsukasa hurried over to make sure the civilian victims were all safe first. By now, several men were stirring and regaining consciousness, looking around in dazed confusion as if having awoken from some fever dream. As the two Patrangers made the rounds, they came over to where Sakuya was just sitting up and rubbing his head. While he face was still obscured by his visor, they were sure he was looking just as disoriented and confused.

"Sakuya! Are you okay?" Tsukasa said bending down to offer him a hand. She helped her younger teammate up and patted him on the head while he gave a relieved sigh.

"Senpai? What's going on? How did I get here?"

"That's a long story. We'll tell you later," Keiichiro said giving a satisfied nod, "We're just glad you're back."

Before the Patrangers could take another minute for their reunion, Tsukasa pointed over to where Umika was cracking open the Gangler safe with her dial device. "Hey! Over there!"

Umika broke open the safe and pulled out the Lupin Collection perfume bottle that had been stowed away just as the Patrangers whirled around on her. Keiichiro gave a low growl and began to reach for his blaster pistol, "Hold it Lupin! Our truce may be over, but we're not going to let you take that bottle!"

Umika smiled as she turned to see her two fellow Lupinrangers recovering to their feet nearby. They looked groggy and tired and she was sure it was best if they fell back and regrouped. She turned to the Patrangers and shrugged, "Don't worry. I wasn't going to take this. We all got what we wanted so let's share the spoils. The bottle for our freedom today."

Keiichiro gritted his teeth weighing the options in his head but was surprised when Tsukasa stepped forward and gave a nod, "All right Yellow. You have a deal."

Umika nodded and tossed the bottle to the Pink Patranger before throwing a few flashbangs to the ground. A momentary smoke screen filled the area and when it dissipated, the three Lupinrangers were gone from sight.

"Damn it! They got away!" Sakuya protested in disappointment as he began to recover his senses.

Tsukasa shook her head and held their recovered trophy, "That's okay. She was right. We made a fair trade and got our friends back safely. Let's just leave it at that."

Sakuya felt Keiichiro clap him on the shoulder before walking toward the recovering victims, "Come on everyone. Let's make sure the civilians are all right. We've got enough to worry about here already."

* * *

Early the next evening, Keiichiro stopped in to the hospital where Sakuya was undergoing one last inspection by some of the doctors who were friendly toward the local police. At the request of Commander Hilltop, they wanted to make sure that Sakuya was healthy and that the effects of the Gangler's perfume were no longer affecting his senses. The young rookie sat at the edge of the bed while one of the doctors stood off at a table examining some blood work that had just been returned from the lab. When Keiichio entered the room, Sakuya greeted him with a cheerful smile, "Hey Senpai! This is a surprise! I didn't expect you'd be coming by tonight."

"Well why wouldn't I?" the Red Patranger said as he walked over, "You're still my teammate and I was concerned."

Sakuya chuckled and quipped, "And here I was thinking you couldn't stand me. I guess you're a big softy after all."

"Oh you still put me and Tsukasa through a lot of trouble," Keiichiro pointed out with a wry smile, "And I still plan to give you hell for all this... just not tonight. How are you feeling?"

"A lot better," Sakuya admitted while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "I feel a lot more clear headed now so I guess that's something, huh?"

Keiichiro gave his comrade an affectionate clap on the shoulder before the doctor looked up from his charts, "Well Officer Hikawa, it looks like your labwork checks out. You seem to be perfectly fine. If you take it easy for a few days and don't feel any different, you'll be cleared for duty again in no time."

"Great! Thanks doc!" Sakuya said as he hopped off the bed, "I can't wait to get back into the saddle. Uh... you and Tsukasa don't mind riding without me for a couple more days, do you Senpai?"

Keiichiro shook his head gently, "Don't worry. I think we can manage. I wouldn't mind the extra peace and quiet anyway."

Sakuya rolled his eyes at the veteran's gentle ribbing as they left the doctor's office, "Very funny Senpai. Do you want to go out and celebrate tonight? Since we're downtown, I thought maybe we can just find a local dive bar and have a beer or something?"

Keiichiro gave a slightly apologetic look and shook his head, "Sorry Sakuya. I'd like to, but maybe we can do that tomorrow? There's somewhere else I have to go tonight."

The Green Patranger tilted his head in curiosity, "Really? You almost always stay late at the station or just go home after work."

"True... but this is something personal."

"What errand can be that important? Unless you're going out on a date tonight too?" the rookie speculated.

"Sakuya! Knock it off with the wild theories already. I taught you better than that," Keiichiro frowned.

"Okay. Okay. I'll catch up with you tomorrow night Senpai!" Sakuya replied as he relented with his hands raised, "You can give me all the juicy details about this new chick then."

Keiichiro could only shake his head in silent exasperation as the younger Patranger walked off down the block laughing while he hailed a taxi cab.

* * *

A little while later, Tsukasa sat on the couch of her apartment. She was dressed in some comfortable sweats from her police academy days and she sat idly watching an old black and white romance movie that was on television. It was already starting to get late and she was feeling hungry but didn't have the motivation to get up and cook anything either. After all the mayhem she had been through recently, she just wanted to take it easy and rest for a while. Still, she had to admit that it was a strange conflicting feeling she had. While part of her knew she should try to get out and enjoy the next few days off, she needed those days of rest to simply recover so that she could get back to the daily grind of work. It was a vicious cycle and she wondered if she could find anything remotely interesting enough to look forward to before the next Gangler attack.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock at the door. She got up and headed over to the door to curiously peek through the peephole. To her surprise, she saw it was Keiichiro waiting on the other side dressed to down to his own civilian clothes. She opened the door and raised a puzzled eyebrow, "Keiichiro? What are you doing here?"

"Sorry for just dropping in unannounced," he said sheepishly while entering the apartment and handing her a box of fresh pizza he was carrying, "I was passing through after checking up on Sakuya and thought you might want something to eat."

"What? I... thank you," she sputtered, "But why? I don't understand."

Keiichiro shrugged, "It's been a crazy weekend for all of us. I thought we should all relax and treat ourselves a little. Even if we missed out on our weekend, we still stopped that Gangler and recovered that treasure piece. Hopefully you haven't eaten already?"

Tsukasa looked inside the pizza box and smiled, "No... and teriyaki chicken? You know me all too well. Join me?"

They headed to the living room and sat down on the couch with the pizza and the movie going on in the background. Keiichiro took a piece and handed it to her, "It's not the stuff from our French bistro, but I thought it would do."

"It's great. Thank you," she said taking a bite and enjoying the food. After a short silence from their eating, Tsukasa looked to the movie on television, "You know... I have to admit you were right about before. You really can be romantic when you want to be."

The Red Patranger nearly choked on his pizza but paused to maintain his stoic outward appearance, "What? What makes you say that?"

Tsukasa studied his face the same way she scrutinized suspects undergoing interrogations before shrugging, "Just testing a theory."

"Oh? And what theory is that?"

Tsukasa went back to eating while watching the movie on the screen during a romantic scene, "This movie just got me to thinking about that Gangler's powers just now. I was trying to figure out why that monster's perfume didn't work on you."

Keiichiro straightened up in a dignified way, "Lupin Yellow told us before. It's because I have superior focus and willpower."

"You're sure it isn't because you're already in love with someone else?" Tsukasa asked with a sly look of amusement.

"We don't know that was even a legitimate defense against the perfume," Keiichiro insisted with mild indignance, "And besides, assuming I was already in love with some girl, what would that matter to you?"

"Because she might get jealous right now," Tsukasa pointed out taking another slice of pizza, "Here we are on my couch with a late night pizza and a sappy romance movie on television. One could get the wrong idea, just like our crepe incident?"

Keiichiro matched her level gaze and took another slice of pizza, "Hmm... and what if I just wanted to hang out and do something nice for my friend... to cheer her up a little?"

Tsukasa smiled before leaning over and kissing him on the cheek, "Then I'd say... thank you for being such a good friend Keiichiro."

As he blinked in surprise, she settled in next to him on the couch and rested her head on his shoulder. She took another bite of pizza and went back to watching the movie curled up close at his side, "For what it's worth... if this had been a second date, I would have thought it was a really great one."

He smiled quietly and put a comforting arm around her while they continued to watch the film and enjoy each other's company for the remainder of the evening, "Yeah... I think so too."

* * *

 **A/N:**  
 **Chapter title is French for "my friend, my darling" addressed toward a female.**

 **To those who have made it this far, thanks again for reading! As popular as the Lupinrangers seem to be with people, I figured that the Pats needed a little love and attention too. Hopefully you enjoyed this short story because I had some fun writing it!**


End file.
